1. Fall Protection OSHA requires:
Working conditions that are free of known dangers.
Keep floors in work areas in a clean and, so far as possible, a dry condition.
Employer select and provide required personal protective equipment at no cost to workers.
Employer train workers about job hazards in a language that they can understand.
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2. Fall Protection
Slips, Trips, and, Falls are among the most common causes of serious work related injuries and deaths.
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3. What can be done to reduce falls?
Employers must set up the work place to prevent employees from falling off of overhead platforms, elevated work stations or into holes in the floor and walls.
OSHA requires that fall protection be provided at elevations of four feet in general industry workplaces.
In addition, OSHA requires that fall protection be provided when working over dangerous equipment and machinery, regardless of the fall distance.
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4. Types of Controls Engineering Controls Administrative Controls
Are the most effective type of control.
Elimination of hazard, such as doing work on ground instead of at heights.
Substitution of hazard such as using a lift instead of climbing.
Administrative Controls
Such as employee training and job rotation
Personal Protective Equipment
Least effective control
Such as guard rails, Personal fall arrest system (PFAS), Safety nets, Safety helmets.
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5. Fall Protection System at CSP: Components
Anchorage
Anchorage is a secure point of attachment for lifelines, lanyards, or deceleration devices. Must be designed to hold 5000lbs. (Do not use Ladder, Pipes, Railings)
Body harness
Body harness is shoulder and leg straps which may be secured about the employee in a manner that will distribute the fall arrest forces over at least the thighs, pelvis, waist, chest and shoulders with means for attaching it to other components of a personal fall arrest system.
Connectors
Connectors is a device which is used to connect parts of the personal fall arrest system and position device systems together. It may be an independent component of the system, such as a carabiner, a buckle or d-ring sewn into a body harness, or self- retracting lanyard.
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6. Fall Protection System in CSP: Components
Deceleration device
Deceleration device is any mechanism, such as a rope grab, rip-stitch lanyard, specially-woven lanyard, tearing or deforming lanyards, automatic self-retracting lifelines, etc., which serves to dissipate a substantial amount of energy during a fall arrest, or otherwise limit the energy imposed on an employee during fall arrest.
Lifeline
Lifeline is a component consisting of a flexible line for connection to an anchorage at one end to hang vertically (vertical lifeline), or for connection to anchorages at both ends to stretch horizontally (horizontal lifeline), and which serves as a means for connecting other components of a personal fall arrest system to the anchorage.
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7. Fall Protection System in CSP
Rail Fall Protection System Components: ◆ 500 lbs. Man-Rated Trolley (a) ◆ Self Retracting Lifeline (b) ◆ Safety Harness (c) Carabiner ◆ Trolley Rail Beam (d) ◆ Triangular Truss (e)
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8. Rail Fall Protection System Components:
Support Column
Cantilevered Arm
Tag Line
Reinforced Anchor Bolt Cage
Stair Stringers
Access Platform
Gangway
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9. Typical Fall Clearance Calculation
There must be sufficient clearance below the user to allow the system to arrest a fall before the user strikes the ground or other obstruction. This requires consideration of several user and site specific factors, as depicted in the following illustration Diagram.
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10. Inspection of Fall Arrest Systems
OSHA requires personal fall arrest systems to be visually inspected before every use by the user and every 6 months by a certified inspector.
Visual inspections include the following:
A. Full Body Harness
Inspect for cleanliness.
Closely examine all of the nylon webbing to ensure there are no burn marks or holes.
Verify there are no torn, frayed, broken fibers, pulled stitches, or frayed edges.
Verify the presence of legible labels.
Examine dee-ring for excessive wear, pits, deterioration, cracks, or corrosion.
Verify that buckles are not deformed, cracked, and will operate correctly.
Check to see that all grommets and rivets are secure and not deformed.
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11. Inspection of Fall Arrest Systems
B. Lanyards/Shock Absorbing Lanyards
Check lanyard material for cuts, burns, abrasions, kinks, knots, burns, broken stitches, excessive wear or soiling/staining, brittleness, chalking, or discoloration.
Check carabiner for excessive wear, distortion, and lock operation.
Ensure that all locking mechanisms seat and lock properly. Once locked, locking mechanism should prevent hood from opening.
Verify that points where the lanyard attaches to the snap hooks are free of defects.
D. Self-Retracting Lanyards
Visually inspect to ensure there is no physical damage to the body.
Make sure all back nuts or rivets are tight.
Make sure the entire length of the nylon strap is free of any cuts, burns, abrasions, kinks, knots, broken stitches, and excessive wear and retracts freely.
Test the unit by pulling sharply on the lanyard to verify that the locking mechanism is operating correctly.
Verify that it has been factory inspected at the proper interval.
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12. Inspection of Fall Arrest Systems
E. Tie-Off Adaptors/Anchorages
Inspect hardware for damage, distortion, sharp edges, burrs, cracks, and corrosion.
Inspect webbing for cuts, burns, tears, abrasions, frays, excessive soiling, and discoloration. Inspect stitching for pulled or cut stitches.
Inspect anchors for cracks, sharp edges, burrs, deformations, corrosion, distortion, and as otherwise recommended by the manufacturer.
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13. Safe Retrieval Plan A Safe Retrieval Plan
A safe retrieval plan must be established by a trained personnel in case someone becomes suspended in the air as a result of a fall.
At CSP the Retrieval Plan is to call 911 and contact management
CSP has established that before climbing any rail car or elevated area, the Control Room must be informed via radio
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14. Fall Protection System in CSP: Cautions
Carry the radio all the times and secure it by latching it to your body harness or belt loop to prevent it from dropping when using the fall protection system.
Do not over-stretch the lifeline to reach the area beyond the fall protection system structures, to prevent an injury due to impact before the system fully arrests the fall.
A Fall protection system is designed to prevent its users from falling a long distance if he/she should slip while traversing from protected surface such as a roof of the rail. This system is not capable of preventing slips, trips or falls but if properly used, it should minimize the distance a user can fall and may in facet prevent injury.
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